Thursday, August 29, 2013
We're the nuts who take 3 kids under 5 to a football game
Some may question our sanity. I can't say they're entirely wrong, but we threw all sanity out the window this past weekend and decided to take all three kids to the Redskins game. Originally it was just going to be Tom and Stasa, but we ended up with two more tickets and made it a family day at the last minute. Going in we knew we might not last the whole game and were prepared to leave after the first quarter, which we were both comfortable with given it's just preseason.
We got to the tailgate at our usual time. While we set up the girls got comfortable and spread out their many many toys. We brought a bean bag toss with us and that kept both girls entertained for awhile, especially once everyone else broke out their bean bag toss. That really got Stasa in to throwing them and man, she's pretty good, too.
The girls spent most of the tailgate running around, climbing in and out of the car, and snacking on junk. They had zero interest in eating their lunch (shocker) and only wanted to drink multiple juice boxes and eat cupcakes.
We did spend quite a bit of time running Lexi back and forth to the port-a-potty. She kept holding herself and dancing around, but then refused to go once we got to the port-a-potty. I can't say I blame her - I'm not a huge fan of them either. Luckily she finally did go before we headed up to the stadium. Tommy spent the tailgate snoozing on a blanket and then hanging out with me and Tom. He was super chill, as always.
We packed up earlier than usual to give us plenty of time to head up to the stadium and then take the girls to the potty (again) because they always always have to go again.
We had planned to try to all sit together, but since we got to the seats so early the people around us weren't yet there, so we split up, Tom took Stasa with him and I had Tommallama and Lexi with me. Lexi loved, I mean L-O-V-E-D the stadium environment. She was jumping and singing and yelling and having a great time. I pointed out the giant blow up helmet that the players run through and explained that there would be fireworks and lots of music. She was in heaven when everything started, the band, the cheerleaders, fireworks, music, booing the Bills, and cheering for the Skins. She even knows most of the chorus of our fight song. Tommy ate and then promptly passed out until we got up to leave.
Tom and I texted each other throughout the game and it looked like he and Stasa had fun, too. Stas was mostly interested in the cheerleaders and had a lot to say about them when we met up. She even showed me some new moves once we got home. "You know, like those girls at the Redskins, mommy!" Sorry, kid, you're never dressing like that.
We ended up leaving right before halftime, which worked out well for us since the game didn't start until 4:30 and the kids didn't nap. All in all we had a great time and I'm glad we made it a family trip. Here are some things I would do again and some things I would do differently if we did this again.
Get to the tailgate early. We arrived about 3 and a half hours early which allowed us to take our time with set up and cooking and breakdown. And it gave the kids plenty of time to run around.
Run the kids into the ground pre-game. We didn't do enough of this and I wish we had them run around a bit more to get more of their energy out.
Bring a training potty. Neither of the girls like the port-a-potty and it takes a Herculean effort to get them to pee in one. We saw another group set up a little personal potty with curtains and everything and agreed that next time (if there is one) we'll definitely bring a little potty for the kids.
Feed the kids until they're full pre-game. No way do we ever spend a cent once we're inside the stadium. Snyder is already getting plenty of our money and I have zero interest in forking over $10 for a crappy lite beer. Of course the girls didn't really eat pre-game and saw everyone with food and immediately started in with the "I wants."
Pick a day game. 1:00 or 4:30 are good times to go with young kids. 4:30 was pushing it a bit, but they would have made it through if we had different seating, which brings me to...
Make it fun! Point out all of the things a kid would love. The fireworks! Music! Yelling! (oh, the yelling. lol) Singing! Jumping! High fiving! Our kids are a little too young to grasp the rules of the game, but they can understand something as simple as "follow the guy who has the ball."
Teach them the fight song. Learn 'em young so they can participate in the fun when the home team scores. No one wants to be that person sitting there while everyone else is singing along. Bonus points if you can make up some fun dance moves to go along with it.
Sit together! We split up since we were using our tickets and my uncle's, but next time I would make it a point to sit together. Had we done that we definitely would have made it through the whole game. And I might not have missed kick off due to Lexi insisting that she go potty. Again.
Leave early. Yeah, I know. You're paying a butt load for the tickets and you want to get your money's worth out of them. BUT. If you leave just a little early you're guaranteed to get back to your car and on the road before the hoards of other people. No need to be stuck in traffic with overtired kids.
Have snacks ready for the ride home. Since we don't spend money in the stadium and the kids didn't really eat much at lunch they were hungry by the time we left. We stocked them up with all sorts of snacks and drinks for the ride home.
Finally, take pictures and video. Document their first game. My kids had a blast going through all of the pics and video we took at the game (and all with our phones, too). It helped them remember things about the game that they wanted to share with us.
We got to the tailgate at our usual time. While we set up the girls got comfortable and spread out their many many toys. We brought a bean bag toss with us and that kept both girls entertained for awhile, especially once everyone else broke out their bean bag toss. That really got Stasa in to throwing them and man, she's pretty good, too.
The girls spent most of the tailgate running around, climbing in and out of the car, and snacking on junk. They had zero interest in eating their lunch (shocker) and only wanted to drink multiple juice boxes and eat cupcakes.
We did spend quite a bit of time running Lexi back and forth to the port-a-potty. She kept holding herself and dancing around, but then refused to go once we got to the port-a-potty. I can't say I blame her - I'm not a huge fan of them either. Luckily she finally did go before we headed up to the stadium. Tommy spent the tailgate snoozing on a blanket and then hanging out with me and Tom. He was super chill, as always.
We packed up earlier than usual to give us plenty of time to head up to the stadium and then take the girls to the potty (again) because they always always have to go again.
We had planned to try to all sit together, but since we got to the seats so early the people around us weren't yet there, so we split up, Tom took Stasa with him and I had Tommallama and Lexi with me. Lexi loved, I mean L-O-V-E-D the stadium environment. She was jumping and singing and yelling and having a great time. I pointed out the giant blow up helmet that the players run through and explained that there would be fireworks and lots of music. She was in heaven when everything started, the band, the cheerleaders, fireworks, music, booing the Bills, and cheering for the Skins. She even knows most of the chorus of our fight song. Tommy ate and then promptly passed out until we got up to leave.
Tom and I texted each other throughout the game and it looked like he and Stasa had fun, too. Stas was mostly interested in the cheerleaders and had a lot to say about them when we met up. She even showed me some new moves once we got home. "You know, like those girls at the Redskins, mommy!" Sorry, kid, you're never dressing like that.
We ended up leaving right before halftime, which worked out well for us since the game didn't start until 4:30 and the kids didn't nap. All in all we had a great time and I'm glad we made it a family trip. Here are some things I would do again and some things I would do differently if we did this again.
Get to the tailgate early. We arrived about 3 and a half hours early which allowed us to take our time with set up and cooking and breakdown. And it gave the kids plenty of time to run around.
Run the kids into the ground pre-game. We didn't do enough of this and I wish we had them run around a bit more to get more of their energy out.
Bring a training potty. Neither of the girls like the port-a-potty and it takes a Herculean effort to get them to pee in one. We saw another group set up a little personal potty with curtains and everything and agreed that next time (if there is one) we'll definitely bring a little potty for the kids.
Feed the kids until they're full pre-game. No way do we ever spend a cent once we're inside the stadium. Snyder is already getting plenty of our money and I have zero interest in forking over $10 for a crappy lite beer. Of course the girls didn't really eat pre-game and saw everyone with food and immediately started in with the "I wants."
Pick a day game. 1:00 or 4:30 are good times to go with young kids. 4:30 was pushing it a bit, but they would have made it through if we had different seating, which brings me to...
Make it fun! Point out all of the things a kid would love. The fireworks! Music! Yelling! (oh, the yelling. lol) Singing! Jumping! High fiving! Our kids are a little too young to grasp the rules of the game, but they can understand something as simple as "follow the guy who has the ball."
Teach them the fight song. Learn 'em young so they can participate in the fun when the home team scores. No one wants to be that person sitting there while everyone else is singing along. Bonus points if you can make up some fun dance moves to go along with it.
Sit together! We split up since we were using our tickets and my uncle's, but next time I would make it a point to sit together. Had we done that we definitely would have made it through the whole game. And I might not have missed kick off due to Lexi insisting that she go potty. Again.
Leave early. Yeah, I know. You're paying a butt load for the tickets and you want to get your money's worth out of them. BUT. If you leave just a little early you're guaranteed to get back to your car and on the road before the hoards of other people. No need to be stuck in traffic with overtired kids.
Have snacks ready for the ride home. Since we don't spend money in the stadium and the kids didn't really eat much at lunch they were hungry by the time we left. We stocked them up with all sorts of snacks and drinks for the ride home.
Finally, take pictures and video. Document their first game. My kids had a blast going through all of the pics and video we took at the game (and all with our phones, too). It helped them remember things about the game that they wanted to share with us.
Four month stats
We took Tommy to his four month appointment today. Little man is growing in height, but has gotten a little leaner lately so we'll be upping his intake. He's hitting all of his developmental milestones on time (and even a bit early!) and got quite a few vaccinations today.
Tommy's four month stats:
Height: 26.5" (94th percentile)
Weight: 14lbs 8oz (28th percentile according to Baby Connect, but the nurse said it was more like the 45th)
Head: 17" (89th percentile)
And for comparison, here were the girls' stats at that age:
Tommy's four month stats:
Height: 26.5" (94th percentile)
Weight: 14lbs 8oz (28th percentile according to Baby Connect, but the nurse said it was more like the 45th)
Head: 17" (89th percentile)
And for comparison, here were the girls' stats at that age:
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Stasa
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Lexi
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Height
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23” (5th percentile)
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26.5” (99th percentile)
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Weight
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13lbs 9oz (37th percentile)
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13lbs 13oz (40th percentile)
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Head
|
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15.75” (29th percentile)
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Now that I'm looking at the girls' stats I don't feel like he's that small. For some reason I thought Lexi was 16 pounds at four months, but that was at her six month appointment.
At four months, Tommy is rolling over from back to belly and belly to back. He's a tummy time master and can really reach his head up, even the nurse was impressed with his head and neck control. He reaches out for and grabs toys, self soothes with a pacifier or his fingers. We're starting to hear more and more babbles from him and he turns to find us when we talk to him. He really really wants to sit up and gets so upset when he's reclined and often uses all of his strength to lift up as much of his body as he can.
Now with the rolling over. I'm excited that he's doing it because it's a step toward him being able to scoot around, but I'm not so thrilled about the fact that he's doing this in the middle of the night. He'll be dead asleep then somehow rolls over and wakes himself up, so so mad that he's now on his belly so we go in and put him back and soothe him back to sleep only to have him do it again and again and again. And again. Let's hope for all of us that he either figures out how to get back on his back or learns to love belly sleeping. Otherwise I'm going to begin sleep walking permanently.
The little man is home with me now and is juuuuuuust about to fall asleep. Fingers crossed he gets a good nap in.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Keep on rollin'
We hit another milestone with the little man this weekend. I was chatting with friends and absentmindedly playing with Tommy on the floor and saw him reaching over farther than he had before and then BAM he was on his belly looking up. I put him back on his back and within a couple of minutes he had rolled over again. Determined little dude.
Now, I love watching the kids grow and hit all of the milestones they should, but this particular milestone has always come at a price for us at bedtime. Back is best, they say. Well, yes, it is and when your baby is used to only sleeping on their back and end up rolling over in the middle of the night (over and over and over again) they wake up pretty ticked off. So last night was a bit of a bust. Tommy kept rolling over and each time he did, he'd get so angry it would take quite awhile to soothe him back to sleep. Then at some point he was just mad for no reason at all or at least nothing I did calmed him down. Needless to say I'm on my second large cup of coffee for the morning and in search of a caffeine IV.
For now here's Tommallama rolling over last night and again this morning.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
She's a sponge
That saying about kids being sponges really is true. Stasa has such a thirst to learn. We noticed that she was having trouble properly pronouncing some of her letters and words and no matter how often we corrected her, she kept getting them wrong. Then we heard about this enrichment program at her daycare which she participated in a few times when they had an open spot. She LOVED it and the teacher said she was so eager to participate. The teacher gave us a folder with information about the program and told us that she thought Stasa was a good candidate for the class. Tom and I talked about it and decided that we'd enroll Stasa for at least a couple of months.
At the beginning of August she joined Miss Ebby's Learning Adventures class with a couple of her classmates. They meet three times a week and focus on different letters and sounds using a lion hand puppet named Kelsey to make it fun. They also work on sitting nicely in their seats and taking turns answering questions. All things they'll need to be able to do in school (and something they'll continue to work on in Pre-K). Stasa brought home her own mini Kelsey puppet and book that she can work on at home. So now at bedtime we have her practice writing the different words in the book. She's already improved so much - she can correctly write her lowercase b and p, two letters she was writing backwards. And she's been working on all of her lowercase letters and getting them right most of the time. At the end of each week she brings home a Velcro letter for her Kelsey puppet (he has a Velcro spot on his tummy) as well as a report on what they worked on and suggestions for what we could do at home to reinforce the learning. My all-time favorite was "spread pudding on a baking sheet and use your fingers to practice writing the letter P." Yeah, not happening, she would just eat it.
After the first week in the program Miss Ebby told us how much Stasa loves the class. We knew it - I mean she comes home chatting all about Mr M or how P makes the "puh" sound or what Kelsey the Lion said. Miss Ebby said Stasa is eager and the best student in the class. She eats learning for breakfast. (like that made any sense) Stas takes her "homework" seriously and is so proud to show us how well she's doing. Last night we worked on E. She usually writes her Es only in uppercase and with about five or six horizontal lines. This time she wrote it correctly each time and even wrote lowercase Es. So far I think this program is worth the money. I think Pre-K will help her a lot, too.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Evolution of our home
It started waaaaaaaay back in April. We decided to finally tackle the look of the exterior of our home. It was something we always knew we would do - I mean let's face it, our house had zero curb appeal and was easily the ugliest house on the cul-de-sac thanks to a giant "poop" stripe down the front of it and rotting fascia boards. We got approval from our HOA to start the work and hired Tom's brother to get it done. We weathered quite a few bad days and some unexpected surprises, like tons of rotting wood, squirrel damage, and even a raccoon. Last weekend Tom took a saw and pry bar to the rotting deck and ripped most of it out. We had his brother out on Saturday to help take the last pieces down and lay some pea gravel until we decide the final patio design. I'm so glad the deck is gone - it was harboring swarms of mosquitoes and a giant family of scary looking spiders. We still have some work to finish, like landscaping the front yard and designing and building a patio in the back. Oh and installing a kick plate on the front door, the screen door, and new light outside.
Before:
During: original siding and new siding going up
After:
Now, here's the deck in progress:
While Tom and Pete were busy taking down the rest of the deck, I played around in Photoshop with the front of the house to see what it could look like with a tiny bit of landscaping. I think we've settled on hostas, liriope, and salvia to give a bit a color and interest to the front. We'll probably use rocks instead of mulch right next to the house and then mulch the majority of the bed.
Before:
During: original siding and new siding going up
After:
Now, here's the deck in progress:
While Tom and Pete were busy taking down the rest of the deck, I played around in Photoshop with the front of the house to see what it could look like with a tiny bit of landscaping. I think we've settled on hostas, liriope, and salvia to give a bit a color and interest to the front. We'll probably use rocks instead of mulch right next to the house and then mulch the majority of the bed.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Potty training: it's a journey
We didn't have the best experience potty-training Stasa, so we decided to take it easy with Lexi and let her decide when it was time. Lucky for us daycare convinced her it was time to kick the diaper habit. For weeks she has been going most of the day on the potty at daycare, but then refused to go once we were home. We didn't push it, just constantly asked her and encouraged her to go. Lexi knows she's got all of the power in this situation and there's no way we're winning this battle.
Then last week daycare suggested that she come in underwear on Monday. We went out to the store and she chose a package of Minnie Mouse undies and walked into school SO PROUD on Monday. She was so thrilled to tell her teachers (and anyone else who would listen) that she was wearing "UNDA-WEARS!"
Monday she made it through the day at school with no accidents and wore a Pull-Up for nap. We got home and encouraged her to go potty, saw her grabbing herself and then told her to go potty, put her on the potty and she freaked. So we just told her to keep her underwear dry. Fast forward. She was helping Tom clean up and gather the garbage around the house and BAM peed her pants. He put her in a new pair of undies and then changed her into a Pull-Up for bedtime.
Tuesday she woke up dry! And peed on the potty first thing! She ran back to her room and picked out her underwear for the day (this is quickly becoming her favorite thing to do in the morning). Went the whole day at school with no accidents and wore a Pull-Up for nap. Got home and she had another accident after begin reminded repeatedly to go to the potty. Another Pull-Up for bedtime.
Wednesday she woke up again completely dry, but freaked out when I told her to go potty. So I just let it go and ignored it since she was on the verge of a meltdown. Ten minutes later she was sitting on the potty and then grabbing a pair of underwear for the day. She went the entire day without accidents at school and wore a Pull-Up for nap. She came home and went potty a couple of times. No reminders from us. She would stand up, declare she needed to go, and run to the bathroom. No accidents all day. And a Pull-Up for bedtime.
Thursday she woke up dry and went potty then got dressed for the day. She had one accident at school and wore a Pull-Up for nap again. We asked her teacher about the accident and it happened while she was playing and they could tell she needed to go, she was holding herself, but she didn't want to leave her game and ended up peeing her pants. This is actually something we still see Stasa doing - dancing around while she plays because she doesn't want to stop playing for a potty break. She'll do that until she's literally about to burst and then sprints to the bathroom. After pickup from daycare we went to grab a bite to eat and then headed to Costco for a few things. We didn't plan ahead so we had no changes of clothes or extra undies with us. We told Lexi she would have to keep her underwear dry because we didn't have anything to change her into if she had an accident. After arriving at Costco we immediately went to the bathroom, but she freaked out at the noise of the hand dryer. There was a kid in the bathroom who kept playing with the dryer and between that and the toilet constantly flushing itself there was no way she was going to attempt to go. We left the bathroom and I told her she had to either hold it and keep her undies dry or she would have to sit in her wet clothes if she had an accident. She kept dancing around and holding herself throughout the store, so about halfway through Tom took her to the bathroom again and again she refused to go and melted down. We gave up and just let her be. We were worried that she would have an accident in the car, but figured if she did we would just clean it. No big deal. Well, she didn't. She held it the whole way home and as soon as we were in the driveway she insisted she had to go potty. I ran her inside and in a flash had her pants and underwear down and her butt on the potty. And thus began the biggest meltdown ever. I think she had held it so long that it was starting to hurt. She was literally holding herself and crying and refusing to pee. So I walked away and told her I wasn't going to make her sit there. I went to help Tom bring in the food and when I walked back in I heard her going potty. Big girl. I gave her a lollypop for going and staying dry at the store. Twenty minutes later Stasa told me that Lexi pooped in her pants. Sure enough she did and didn't say anything to us, just walked around like that. She was really upset when I changed her and realized she made a mistake. We told her that she should have gone on the potty, but that it was just an accident. Another Pull-Up for bedtime.
This morning she woke up dry again! What what! And without a word she got out of bed, walked into the bathroom and went potty. I came in and saw that her Pull-Up was still dry and praised her for going potty and then yelled down to Tom so he could give some love, too. She walked back to her room SO PROUD and picked her undies for the day. She promised to stay dry all day and went off to school.
After our potty-training experience with Stasa and the battle of wills we were never going to win, I have to admit I was hesitant to get started with Lexi, but it's been so easy (KNOCKONALLWOOD). I am a little worried about how it'll go this weekend when we're out and about, but I suppose we'll eventually have to rip off the band-aid. Now that she's been wearing underwear there's no way we're going back to diapers and Pull-Ups during the day. And I think if she goes all next week without having an accident over the night we'll stop the Pull-Ups at bedtime. All in all this has been a pretty easy potty-training and thanks to Lexi I now know about every kid in her class who wears underwear, diapers, and Pull-Ups. I suppose we'll need to get her more underwear now. I tried to get Stasa to go through her underwear bin and pull out the ones that are getting a little small, but she FREAKED OUT and refused to give up a single pair. I'm not prepared to fight that battle, because let's face it, I just don't care enough about making her give up some underwear. Not a battle I want to win so I'll just buy Lexi her own.
UPDATE:
She went the entire day on Saturday without an accident, which was slightly surprising since she spent the majority of the morning playing outside and then out at the town center in the evening. We didn't ask her to go while we were home and each time she either came to us and said she needed to or she just walked straight to the bathroom. When we were at the town center I was a little nervous and kept asking her and took her two or three times and each time she refused to go. Finally she asked to go and actually went on the potty. Told ya - power.
Sunday she went almost all day without an accident and even walked away from the play place at the mall to tell us she had to go. I'm so proud that she's recognizing the signs that she needs to go and is okay to walk away from what she's doing to go potty. Both days she woke up dry in the morning and after nap. If she's able to wake up dry every day this week we're going to take the plunge and put her in underwear for bedtime.
Then last week daycare suggested that she come in underwear on Monday. We went out to the store and she chose a package of Minnie Mouse undies and walked into school SO PROUD on Monday. She was so thrilled to tell her teachers (and anyone else who would listen) that she was wearing "UNDA-WEARS!"
Monday she made it through the day at school with no accidents and wore a Pull-Up for nap. We got home and encouraged her to go potty, saw her grabbing herself and then told her to go potty, put her on the potty and she freaked. So we just told her to keep her underwear dry. Fast forward. She was helping Tom clean up and gather the garbage around the house and BAM peed her pants. He put her in a new pair of undies and then changed her into a Pull-Up for bedtime.
Tuesday she woke up dry! And peed on the potty first thing! She ran back to her room and picked out her underwear for the day (this is quickly becoming her favorite thing to do in the morning). Went the whole day at school with no accidents and wore a Pull-Up for nap. Got home and she had another accident after begin reminded repeatedly to go to the potty. Another Pull-Up for bedtime.
Wednesday she woke up again completely dry, but freaked out when I told her to go potty. So I just let it go and ignored it since she was on the verge of a meltdown. Ten minutes later she was sitting on the potty and then grabbing a pair of underwear for the day. She went the entire day without accidents at school and wore a Pull-Up for nap. She came home and went potty a couple of times. No reminders from us. She would stand up, declare she needed to go, and run to the bathroom. No accidents all day. And a Pull-Up for bedtime.
Thursday she woke up dry and went potty then got dressed for the day. She had one accident at school and wore a Pull-Up for nap again. We asked her teacher about the accident and it happened while she was playing and they could tell she needed to go, she was holding herself, but she didn't want to leave her game and ended up peeing her pants. This is actually something we still see Stasa doing - dancing around while she plays because she doesn't want to stop playing for a potty break. She'll do that until she's literally about to burst and then sprints to the bathroom. After pickup from daycare we went to grab a bite to eat and then headed to Costco for a few things. We didn't plan ahead so we had no changes of clothes or extra undies with us. We told Lexi she would have to keep her underwear dry because we didn't have anything to change her into if she had an accident. After arriving at Costco we immediately went to the bathroom, but she freaked out at the noise of the hand dryer. There was a kid in the bathroom who kept playing with the dryer and between that and the toilet constantly flushing itself there was no way she was going to attempt to go. We left the bathroom and I told her she had to either hold it and keep her undies dry or she would have to sit in her wet clothes if she had an accident. She kept dancing around and holding herself throughout the store, so about halfway through Tom took her to the bathroom again and again she refused to go and melted down. We gave up and just let her be. We were worried that she would have an accident in the car, but figured if she did we would just clean it. No big deal. Well, she didn't. She held it the whole way home and as soon as we were in the driveway she insisted she had to go potty. I ran her inside and in a flash had her pants and underwear down and her butt on the potty. And thus began the biggest meltdown ever. I think she had held it so long that it was starting to hurt. She was literally holding herself and crying and refusing to pee. So I walked away and told her I wasn't going to make her sit there. I went to help Tom bring in the food and when I walked back in I heard her going potty. Big girl. I gave her a lollypop for going and staying dry at the store. Twenty minutes later Stasa told me that Lexi pooped in her pants. Sure enough she did and didn't say anything to us, just walked around like that. She was really upset when I changed her and realized she made a mistake. We told her that she should have gone on the potty, but that it was just an accident. Another Pull-Up for bedtime.
This morning she woke up dry again! What what! And without a word she got out of bed, walked into the bathroom and went potty. I came in and saw that her Pull-Up was still dry and praised her for going potty and then yelled down to Tom so he could give some love, too. She walked back to her room SO PROUD and picked her undies for the day. She promised to stay dry all day and went off to school.
After our potty-training experience with Stasa and the battle of wills we were never going to win, I have to admit I was hesitant to get started with Lexi, but it's been so easy (KNOCKONALLWOOD). I am a little worried about how it'll go this weekend when we're out and about, but I suppose we'll eventually have to rip off the band-aid. Now that she's been wearing underwear there's no way we're going back to diapers and Pull-Ups during the day. And I think if she goes all next week without having an accident over the night we'll stop the Pull-Ups at bedtime. All in all this has been a pretty easy potty-training and thanks to Lexi I now know about every kid in her class who wears underwear, diapers, and Pull-Ups. I suppose we'll need to get her more underwear now. I tried to get Stasa to go through her underwear bin and pull out the ones that are getting a little small, but she FREAKED OUT and refused to give up a single pair. I'm not prepared to fight that battle, because let's face it, I just don't care enough about making her give up some underwear. Not a battle I want to win so I'll just buy Lexi her own.
UPDATE:
She went the entire day on Saturday without an accident, which was slightly surprising since she spent the majority of the morning playing outside and then out at the town center in the evening. We didn't ask her to go while we were home and each time she either came to us and said she needed to or she just walked straight to the bathroom. When we were at the town center I was a little nervous and kept asking her and took her two or three times and each time she refused to go. Finally she asked to go and actually went on the potty. Told ya - power.
Sunday she went almost all day without an accident and even walked away from the play place at the mall to tell us she had to go. I'm so proud that she's recognizing the signs that she needs to go and is okay to walk away from what she's doing to go potty. Both days she woke up dry in the morning and after nap. If she's able to wake up dry every day this week we're going to take the plunge and put her in underwear for bedtime.
Friday, August 9, 2013
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 people are in my family
Last weekend we decided to attempt to capture decent family photos that include the newest little one. The week before I rooted through all of our closets and cast aside multiple outfits and finally settled on pinks and blues since we all had something that would coordinate in those colors. The morning of the shoot, we got the girls ready and then the battle began. Stasa didn't want to wear her dress because the lines on it make her itchy. Why does Lexi get a bow? I want a bow! I don't want a shirt! I want a dress!! And on and on and on.
With Tom's patience and help we were able to get them all in the car and took off for Claude Moore since it's right around the corner. Next time we'll just go back to our common grounds in the neighborhood since it's even closer and has more open shade. But even with a perfect location there's still the challenge of getting three kids to smile or at least look at the camera at the same time.
This nut was both cracking me up and trying my patience.
She had her own agenda and no amount of bribery was going to get her to cooperate unless she wanted to. Stasa was great. She sat when we told her to, smiled when we asked, and even snapped a few pics of me and Tom with my phone. I must have taken 300+ pictures within a half an hour. It was a super fast shoot. My kids don't have any patience for sitting for pictures. All in all we ended up with some shots that I'll be happy to frame.
And my absolute favorite one:
You can see all of the shots on Flickr - just click the My Pictures tab at the top of the blog.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Babywearing and a quick and easy craft
I am such a huge fan of baby wearing and have used a few different baby carriers to do so. With Stasa I used my stretch jersey wrap a lot and got pretty good at getting it on and her in it. Every time I wore it in public I would get stopped and asked about it - where did I get it, how do I use it, etc. We got a couple of new carriers after I had Lexi - the Babyhawk, which is my absolute favorite carrier, and a Bjorn. The Bjorn has been so great since it's the easiest to get on and off and Tom will actually use it to wear Tommy now. The only issue I have with the Bjorn is comfort. It works well for me for a bit, but after a couple of hours wearing the baby in it my back starts to ache and I think it's because all of the weight is being carried on your shoulders.
The Babyhawk is fantastic. It's got the comfort of a wrap, but the structure of the Bjorn. AND you can carry older children in it, which has been helpful lately. The girls have been really into taking care of their baby dolls lately, both of whom are named Tommy, and like to bring their doll strollers everywhere we go. Unfortunately the strollers are sometimes just too much for us to bring so I decided to make baby mei tei carriers for them. It took me maybe an hour or so to make them and get this - they only cost about $2 a piece to make. The girls love them and they were soooooooooo easy to make. A couple of rectangles of fabric, some thin quilting batting, and a few long tubes for straps. I could have made these with fabric I already had, but I took Lexi to the fabric store and let her pick out something for her and for Stasa. Now they can wear their babies like we wear Tommy. So many baby Tommys. I might make some extras since I have additional batting and if I do I'll take pics for each of the steps to share here.
The Babyhawk is fantastic. It's got the comfort of a wrap, but the structure of the Bjorn. AND you can carry older children in it, which has been helpful lately. The girls have been really into taking care of their baby dolls lately, both of whom are named Tommy, and like to bring their doll strollers everywhere we go. Unfortunately the strollers are sometimes just too much for us to bring so I decided to make baby mei tei carriers for them. It took me maybe an hour or so to make them and get this - they only cost about $2 a piece to make. The girls love them and they were soooooooooo easy to make. A couple of rectangles of fabric, some thin quilting batting, and a few long tubes for straps. I could have made these with fabric I already had, but I took Lexi to the fabric store and let her pick out something for her and for Stasa. Now they can wear their babies like we wear Tommy. So many baby Tommys. I might make some extras since I have additional batting and if I do I'll take pics for each of the steps to share here.
Attention seekers
The girls have done remarkably well with the addition of another sibling, but recently they've both started acting out a bit for extra attention. Lexi's been the worst.
The other night while I was making dinner and Tom was simultaneously taking care of Tommy and negotiating with someone from Craigslist, Lexi came downstairs hands out saying "Mommy, I all dirty!" I looked down and there she was hands all covered in black with a black goatee on her face. I initially thought "Crap. Marker." Nope. Expensive mascara. I suppose I should have told her not to get into my makeup. Lesson learned. I got her cleaned up and went back to making dinner. Not five minutes later she came back downstairs. "Mommy, I all dirty!" This time I could smell her when she walked in. Nail polish. Mint green nail polish. On her, my bureau, my bedroom carpet. So, I clean that up with acetone and tell her to stay out of my room. Then I shampoo the carpet to get the acetone out of it. As I'm doing that I hear Stasa walk by the hall bathroom and say "Why's it all wet in here?" I poke my head in and catch Lexi elbow deep in the toilet. She had stuffed an entire container of diaper wipes in there and was playing in the water.
Message received, little one: you need more attention.
Tom and I decided to divide and conquer. We had errands to run, so I took Lexi with me and he took Stas and Tommy to Costco with him. I really played it up to Lexi that it was just the two of us and she loved it. We didn't even do anything fantastic - just a quick trip to Target and then the fabric store, but we did make a quick pitstop at the in-store Starbucks for a chocolate milk and "cake lowlypop" for her. She was in heaven.
Later in the week we switched it up and I took Stas and Tommallama and Tom took Lexi. We decided to get our errands done and then take them out to dinner. I had to make a trip to Sephora so we went to the town center. She was so much fun. We went to dinner first - her choice, cheese pizza and while we were waiting for it to be ready she watched them make fresh pasta. Then we went over to Sephora so I could pick up a new eyeshadow. Stasa was amazed at all of the makeup everywhere and got even more excited when she spotted a makeup counter with her name, Anastasia. I told her pick out some stuff and we'd play with the testers. She chose gold glitter eyeliner and sparkly pink lip gloss. The checkout lady gave her a bag just for her and we put some of the tester brushes in it. After that we stopped for some gelato and then headed back home.
Once home we found Tom and Lexi with a McDonald's meal. Apparently after their trip to Babies R Us he took them to like five different restaurants and left each one because all the Lexifer wanted was applesauce and none of the places had any (or the wait was too long). So he brought her home with some Mickey Dees and gave her applesauce only to have her say she didn't want any. LOL
I do think it helped a bit with the girls and it's something we enjoyed. We just need to find time to do this regularly.
The other night while I was making dinner and Tom was simultaneously taking care of Tommy and negotiating with someone from Craigslist, Lexi came downstairs hands out saying "Mommy, I all dirty!" I looked down and there she was hands all covered in black with a black goatee on her face. I initially thought "Crap. Marker." Nope. Expensive mascara. I suppose I should have told her not to get into my makeup. Lesson learned. I got her cleaned up and went back to making dinner. Not five minutes later she came back downstairs. "Mommy, I all dirty!" This time I could smell her when she walked in. Nail polish. Mint green nail polish. On her, my bureau, my bedroom carpet. So, I clean that up with acetone and tell her to stay out of my room. Then I shampoo the carpet to get the acetone out of it. As I'm doing that I hear Stasa walk by the hall bathroom and say "Why's it all wet in here?" I poke my head in and catch Lexi elbow deep in the toilet. She had stuffed an entire container of diaper wipes in there and was playing in the water.
Message received, little one: you need more attention.
Tom and I decided to divide and conquer. We had errands to run, so I took Lexi with me and he took Stas and Tommy to Costco with him. I really played it up to Lexi that it was just the two of us and she loved it. We didn't even do anything fantastic - just a quick trip to Target and then the fabric store, but we did make a quick pitstop at the in-store Starbucks for a chocolate milk and "cake lowlypop" for her. She was in heaven.
Later in the week we switched it up and I took Stas and Tommallama and Tom took Lexi. We decided to get our errands done and then take them out to dinner. I had to make a trip to Sephora so we went to the town center. She was so much fun. We went to dinner first - her choice, cheese pizza and while we were waiting for it to be ready she watched them make fresh pasta. Then we went over to Sephora so I could pick up a new eyeshadow. Stasa was amazed at all of the makeup everywhere and got even more excited when she spotted a makeup counter with her name, Anastasia. I told her pick out some stuff and we'd play with the testers. She chose gold glitter eyeliner and sparkly pink lip gloss. The checkout lady gave her a bag just for her and we put some of the tester brushes in it. After that we stopped for some gelato and then headed back home.
Once home we found Tom and Lexi with a McDonald's meal. Apparently after their trip to Babies R Us he took them to like five different restaurants and left each one because all the Lexifer wanted was applesauce and none of the places had any (or the wait was too long). So he brought her home with some Mickey Dees and gave her applesauce only to have her say she didn't want any. LOL
I do think it helped a bit with the girls and it's something we enjoyed. We just need to find time to do this regularly.
Lately
Lately we've just been trying to get through the week while still having fun with the kids and making time for ourselves. That means that a few things have fallen off of my must-get-done radar, like vacuuming during the week. I think we're getting the hang of getting all of us ready in the morning and out the door at a good time and then making time to play with the kids in the evening. So, in pictures here's what we've been up to.
Spontaneous play in the rain
Can you tell they love the fact that it was okay to stomp around in the rain?
Playing with Tommy is a family affair
Dinner time with these three is crazy sometimes. The other night the girls were belly laughing over something ridiculous and it got me laughing and we couldn't stop. Vicious laugh cycle. And the little man just likes sitting up to see what's going on.
Spontaneous play in the rain
Can you tell they love the fact that it was okay to stomp around in the rain?
Playing with Tommy is a family affair
Dinner time with these three is crazy sometimes. The other night the girls were belly laughing over something ridiculous and it got me laughing and we couldn't stop. Vicious laugh cycle. And the little man just likes sitting up to see what's going on.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
12 Weeks Old (belated, very, very belated)
Things have been so hectic between keeping things running and clean at home and being productive at work and this blog has unfortunately been pushed to the back burner. I've got a lot to share and quite a bit of pictures and video to post and will hopefully find time this weekend to do so.
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